Half Truths & Half Lies
by NeoNails
Summary: Terry/Max friendship. "But all I really wanna know is... Why did a group of Jokerz- well, what did they want with you?" Where Max should've appeared in RotJ, if there had been time.


Okay, I wasn't totally expecting to write something BB again so soon, but I finished watching RotJ again for a second time and was sadly disappointed with the total lack of Max. Yeah, there was Dana, but even she had a teeny little 3-minute role.

I understand that this was after or during Season 1, so Max didn't have as great of a role as she did later on in the show, after she figured out his secret identity. But I'm a Max/Terry shipper by nature (and a Melanie/Terry shipper after that), so I, of course, have to write a really short, really quick scene to change that.

This takes place right after RotJ, and, of course, Max doesn't know what Terry does as Batman (yet).

$4$

_It's driven me before,  
__And it seems to have a vague, haunting mass appeal  
__But lately I'm beginning to find that I  
__Should be the one behind the wheel_

- "Drive," by Incubus

**

* * *

**

Terry slipped into the room, and tried not to sigh in relief when he saw that Mr. Tan was no where in sight. Dana was in her hospital bed, sleeping soundly. Made sense. It was only 9 in the morning. Even still, he was surprised to see Max Gibson- his best female friend, and the only girl he'd ever met who was tough enough to have carnation pink hair and pull it off perfectly.

"Nice to see you finally show up, McGinnis," she said, shooting him a well-aimed glare. She was the queen of glares, and while it was pretty hilarious when she was pointing those chocolate-brown orbs in someone else's direction, but it was kind of scary when she was glaring at him.

"You know I meant to," he said, setting down the bouquet of yellow daisies- Dana's favorite flowers- on the small table next to her bed. "I just… There was a lot on my plate." It was a weak excuse. He knew it, she knew it, but there wasn't much else he could say that would make it all better.

"Yeah, I know," Max said, and he detected the undercurrent of impatience in her voice. "But all I really wanna know is… Why did a group of Jokerz- Jokerz that happened to be working for that head Joker who looked a whole lot like the real one- well, what did they want with you?"

He shut his eyes. She was too damn smart. His best friend was going to be the death of him, not Batman, and not Wayne. It was going to be Max.

"I don't know," he said, lying through his teeth. "They're Jokerz. They don't need an excuse to be slaggin' morons. I just wish they hadn't taken it out on Dana. It's not like she could stop them."

"Oh, 'cause you could?" Max shot back, standing up from her seat in the uncomfortable plastic chairs. "That's a crap excuse and you know it, McGinnis. They attacked _you_ and no one else. They freaked people out, but those losers made sure that you were the one really hurt. Why did they single you out?"

Terry stared at the daisies, hoping for an explanation that didn't involve the truth but also didn't piss off his one and only best friend.

"This has to do with Mr. Wayne, doesn't it?"

His head shot up, and he couldn't mask his face of shock and disbelief. "Wha- what would make you think _that?_"

She looked guilty, and she started fixing Dana's sheets, and fluffing her pillow. "I dunno," she mumbled, shrugging. "I just kinda made a wild guess. I mean, I saw on the newsbytes about how that Joker guy attacked Mr. Wayne at his coming out shindig, and the Joker _should_ be about Mr. Wayne's age- y'know, eighties, if the history texts are correct. I kinda made an intuitive leap and thought… maybe Joker knew him."

"It's the Joker," Terry corrected automatically, gently. Max was being a nudge, but she really did mean well. "And Wayne knew of him, but I can't understand why the Joker would want to attack his gofer. But, hell, I don't know any more than you right now."

Max had these big, brown eyes, and, in Terry's opinion, they were her best feature. When she looked up at him, her eyes were full of concern and worry and hope. For a split second, he almost felt guilty lying to her face.

"Really?" she asked, running a hand through her tousled bright pink hair. "You honestly have no idea what happened or why they attacked you two?"

Terry's eyes softened. She had that effect on him. She was just too good for him. She was too good to be his best friend, just like Dana was too good to be his girlfriend. Maybe it was best if he started talking to Charlie again. God knew _he_ wasn't too good for him.

"Yeah, Max," he said, only letting one corner of his mouth tilt up bitterly. "I honestly don't know."

He didn't miss her sigh of relief, or the way her mouth twisted into a relaxed smile. She wanted him to tell her that. She knew he was lying, and she didn't know why, but she just wanted him to tell her that everything was okay and it was just a freak incident. She knew there was something wrong, but she didn't know what or why or whom or how.

For her own sake, and for his, she was too good to know the full truth.

$4$

If possible, I managed to make this scene even more bitter and angst-ridden than the first RotJ oneshot. Which is funny, because, for the most part, I avoid writing angsty stuff because it makes me depressed (I swear, my moods are dictated by my art).

And it's even more painfully short than the last one. Joy.

It's mostly Terry/Max friendship, but I guess if you wanted to stretch it, you could see as a prelude to an eventual relationship (?).

Hope you guys like it! :)


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